Botanic gardens transplant

by ssellen

Shakira Sellen
Journalist

I moved to Mackay in 2011 and haven’t looked back since.
I’ve grown to enjoy the laidback Mackay lifestyle and all it has to offer.
Over the years I have also spent time visiting the Whitsundays and my favourite place to date would be Whitehaven Beach.
Being on the go all the time in a fast-paced job I also can’t go past a good cup of coffee.
When it comes to writing, I love to meet residents in the community and find about their life as I feel everyone has an interesting story to tell.

Long-standing curator of the Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens has secured the same coveted position at Brisbane's Botanic Gardens.

Mr Arvidsson has spent 11 years at the gardens and during that time he has participated in major clean-ups after cyclones and helped with the development of the site.

"My sweat, my blood - literally from bleeding hands - and a couple of tears are here," he said.

"We had more than 400 trees smashed down in cyclone Ului in 2010, so I've added some tears to the place as well."

Over the decade Mr Arvidsson has had a major impact on the development of the gardens from its creation.

"We built up the Friends of the Gardens and education programs first and just had to wait for the plants to grow before the place offered something that is still growing and still turning into something quite beautiful," he said.

"I believe in the next 20 years Mackay's botanic gardens will become Australia's premier regional gardens."

Mr Arvidsson joined Mackay's botanic gardens as a visitor services officer in October, 2003, about five months after they opened, when it was a "sea of mulch and small tube stock plants".

Mr Arvidsson was acting curator for two years from 2006 before being appointed to the role full-time.

"Botanic gardens are not just about the plants themselves," he said.

"They're also about how people interact with flora - the interpretation, recreation, wildlife, tourism - all these things make up a modern botanic garden.

"While it is an absolute heartbreak to leave, I'm really looking forward to the opportunity."

Watching the Tropical Shade Garden outside his office mature has been a highlight for him.

"My favourite thing about the botanic gardens is the local native plants that are being trialled here and the people I have learnt from and worked with on a daily basis."

They have taught him how unique and special our local native plants are.

"It's not just about planting something pretty or something that's all about colour," he said. "It's discovering the wildlife that has come to this site because the plants have been planted here. It's about discovering plants I never knew existed and seeing how they grow in Mackay."

He's always had a passion for plants.

"My grandmother was a gardener, so in the earliest photograph of myself I'm holding a flower," he said.

"She used to buy me seeds and I used to plant them.

"But when he left high school, horticulture or environmental studies weren't a career.

"I was literally told by our careers advisor that wasn't a real job."

Mr Arvidsson will finish up on February 20 and starts his new role in early March.

Like the Brisbane position, he expects the Mackay curator role to be highly sought after.